An Actual Ninja
by Just-1n-t1m3
Summary: I always felt that the ninjas in Naruto didn't act like the ninjas I imagined in my mind. So I decided to become an actual ninja.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys,

It's a me, Mari- sorry, let's go again. I am your friendly neighbourhood spide- uhhhh... let's just stick with hello there, GENERAL KEN-

**For f*ck's sake I suck at this. **Just read my pen name if you wanna know who I am.

Anyway, this is my first fanfic ever so pls be kind.

And yeah, I don't think there's anything else except for me not owning Naruto... so enjoy

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**Chapter One: Gallery of Worlds**

Yeah, death is fun, really fun. Not the process of dying, that's painful, horrifyingly so. Just drifting, lonely, by yourself. But no, death. Death was fun.

You see, death came in the form of becoming an ethereal ghost thingy… Come on, who doesn't like ethereal ghost thingies?! Anyway, that wasn't even the best part about death. I was actually able to tour the worlds. Yeah, tour the worlds. Well, it wasn't touring in the purest sense that I wandered around the worlds, it was more like I looked at them from afar, sort of like a gallery.

Hey, that actually sounds really accurate. The gallery of worlds… damn that sounds nice. But I digress. As I was walking… floating… moving through the aptly named gallery of worlds, I noticed something off. There was something… familiar about these worlds that I was passing.

And that's when I realised that many of these worlds were worlds of which I had heard about, seen about, or read about. There were worlds of Marvel, Harry Potter, Naruto, and much much more.

After touring for what was probably a few more eons, I began to realise that all these worlds were converging towards a single point. That single point was Earth. I was extremely confused about this at first but then realised that Earth must be a hub, a gathering point of ideas and these ideas spawned in these worlds. It was fascinating.

Remember how I said that there were worlds of all manners. Well, turns out there wasn't just one of each world. Every world had infinite combinations laid side by side, with one small change. Sometimes that small change was just that, a small change, irrelevant. But sometimes, just sometimes, that one small change caused the largest ripples. It was beautiful.

And what was more, I could look at them all. With nothing but time, I walked and floated and dived and flew. I was omniscient, and I was thrilled. It was intoxicating.

That's when I learnt I could enter these worlds, albeit still as an ethereal ghost thingy. I couldn't interact with anything, couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, couldn't drink. But I could see. I could see everything right from the point of action.

I watched kingdoms rise and fall… and rise again just to burn down to the ground even more tragically. I witnessed the kindest saints who deserved the world and then some, but I also saw heinous murders that left one wishing they were dead. I saw love, hate, jealousy, anger, joy, grief… you name it, I saw it.

I studied all there was to know about everything. Languages, martial arts, anything. But I found that I couldn't. I mean, I could, but then I would forget. And then afterwards, I knew that I had tried and failed but I forgot what I had been attempting to learn. There was something going on, something that made sure everything stayed in its place.

Which led me to believe that I could interact. Someway, somehow, I had to be able to enter one of these worlds.

Because, you see, despite the wonder that came with seeing everything there was to see, I longed for the touch of someone else. I wanted… no, I needed to speak, to eat, to drink. Humans weren't made to be everlasting, and I guess I found out why.

So one day, I wandered around like I had for who knows how long and the desire to be a human again became too overwhelming. So, I stumbled into the closest world that i could find without even finding out what it was. I went in, finally trying to find the thrill of ignorance and learning new things again. I went in hoping that I would finally be able to not just see, but be seen. I went in… then I came out... 

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And that's it, hope you liked it. I don't know about when I will post next since this is my first time doing this but you can be sure that I will keep this going for a while at least, even if it takes me a bit to get started.

I guess I will see you next time, whenever that is!


	2. Chapter 2

Hello there,

I am back and without an existential crisis. Bet you didn't think I would have a second chapter up so quick did'ya? Well, I was hyped and had some coffee so I went on a tear.

Anyway, just sit back, relax and enjoy

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**Chapter 2: Shikaichi Naru**

Being born was… complicated to say the least. I really don't wanna talk about it… Actually, I really do. You see, through the eons of wandering and touring I was so desperate for a person's touch that when I finally felt pain for the first time coming out of my mother's womb, I may have… been… surprised!

Ha, got you there, what did you think I was gonna say? HMMMMM? Anyway, yeah, I was extremely surprised that I could see and also hear, smell, touch and taste. It was amazing.

Of course, I still cried, like any normal baby would, first time having being exposed to the gasses and all that sciency stuff. I never remembered all that science I learned from the top geniuses like Tony Stark.

If only, but you get what you get and you don't throw a fit. So, there I was, a child that was reborn with the knowledge of everything that was to come in… what world was this?

That's when I realised I was in the Naruto universe, sorry, **a** naruto universe, there were so many. Anyhow, the next few months was pretty bland, with me in a room. Literally, that was it.

Ok, that might be a slight exaggeration considering I was brought out on walks by my father and mother. Oh, that's right, I was born in the Naru family, son of Yoshino and Shikaku Nara. But no, I was not Shikamaru. Because despite my lack of knowledge in regards to the Japanese language, I still knew that Shikaichi was not pronounced Shikamaru.

So therefore I knew that I must have been born before Shikamaru, judging from the absence of one big brother. Dad and Mum were nice (that's right, mum is spelt with a u, bite me Americans), I loved them, they loved me.

You would think that having two complete strangers become your parents would have disoriented me but I guess the time I spent in the Gallery really made me want some love. And conveniently, love was the one thing that all parents had in common… no matter what it looks like on the outside.

Of course, these few months weren't all bad. I mean, I was in the Naruto universe for god's sake, I could use chakra. Now, chakra, that was weird. You see, all humans were more or less the same biologically to those back on Earth, but everyone in Naruto had a second set of veins and arteries that centred around your stomach.

So throughout these months I have been circulating my chakra, hoping that I could be strong enough to change the future. Yeah I wasn't gonna stick to the script, bite me. On second thought, don't bite me. I'm still too young and it would hurt like hell… so bite me later.

But back to my previous point, I wasn't going to follow canon. Why? Well, to tell you the truth, I actually wanted to originally just be a spectator on the side but then I felt the magic that was human interaction, no matter how one-sided, and decided that I would do everything that I could to change the future… to an extent. What? You can't deny a man his entertainment!

So there I was, circulating my chakra like a pro… ok, like a noob, but that's not what I was focusing on. As I was saying, I was circulating my chakra like every other day when someone came to visit, someone whom I just happened to know.

On that day I met Itachi Uchiha.

Yeah, the dude who killed off his clan for the village, the dude with the mangekyo sharingan, the guy who was so edgy yet also so cool, that dude. But he was only 7 months old. Or at least that was what I could gather from our parents speaking.

Over the months I had picked up some of the language but my vocal cords could still only let out "Urghh"s and "Arghhh"s. I was still looking forward to the day that I could have a conversation with another person.

But enough about me, this was about the cool and edgy mass killer/hero in front of me, and also a little bit about me. You see, I meant it when I said that I wanted to change the future to protect those around me… and those around me conveniently included Itachi. And I did not want him to go down his previous path.

In fact, I would do anything to stop him from straying. That means… it was training montage time.

It has been 12 years since I met Itachi Uchiha, and it was almost time for the Uchiha massacre… unless I could stop it.

I had been keeping up with Itachi's prodigious talent, and trust me, it was hard. It was only thanks to the determination I had gotten from knowing that I would save a whole load of people and also Itachi that kept me going. Oh, and the fact that I had access to the Nara clan's resources also helped. And probably the most important thing, the Kyuubi attack when we were 5 made me realise just how much I needed to improve to save those around me.

I joined the academy at 6 with Itachi. I graduated at 7 with him. Despite being separated into different teams as genin, I still kept up with him. I was sad when he got his sharingan because it meant that he had witnessed suffering, but still I kept going. I became chuunin with him when we were 10. And now I was ANBU while he was ANBU captain.

Of course, I wasn't content with being lower than him but he was just too talented, especially in genjutsu with his 3 tomoe me with knowledge of the future couldn't stop him. I found that the only thing I was better at than him was taijutsu and fuinjutsu. We were about equal on ninjutsu but he could definitely beat me in a fight with just ninjutsu. He was smart like that.

Though it didn't all go well. The millenia of knowledge made me forget some details, such as Shishui being killed by Danzo when he was trying to convince the Uchiha to stop their coup. That detail had fled me after I had seen so much. And I knew that this would be my greatest shame, not stopping him from getting the Mangekyo Sharingan, caused by only the deepest of anguish.

Now back to me. I didn't "know" about the coup d'etat in planning that the Uchiha clan wanted to pull off. I guess the Hokage thought that being a part of the Naru clan would make me too emotional. Anyway, that wasn't the important part. The important part was that over the past few days Itachi has sharpened his kunai 5 times an hour consistently.

He was nervous, even more so today. I knew what was happening, the massacre was about to take place. So I got ready.

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Hope you all liked it. I was running hyper so the quality of this chapter may not be as good. Sorry bout that. I may come back and edit it after some time.

Anyway, I will see you when I see you.

Have a nice day


	3. Chapter 3

That's right, I'm back already.

Originally I wasn't planning on writing but this just kept on popping back up in my head. With no way to fix it, I got writing.

Don't expect a streak like this to continue or happen again though. I mean... it might... but probably not.

oh, and I don't own Naruto.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

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**Chapter 3: Uchiha Massacre**

Today was a good day. Picked up 100 yen on the ground, found an extra piece of pork in my ramen, had fun with little Shikamaru. All in all, it was probably the best day I had had since the Uchiha Massacre.

Yeah, it's still the Uchiha Massacre… Probably going to be the biggest regret of my life. But hey… look on the bright side... uhhh… there is no bright side…

Moving on.

I've been putting off looking back at the incident and decided to look forward but I found that one can't truly look forward without first looking back. Some quote I heard from one of the reconstruction speeches following the Nine Tails incident. And so, I decided I needed to look back. I needed to know what really happened. I needed to stop this from happening ever again.

I was ready. Ready as I could ever be to fend of Itachi and save the Uchiha clan. In fact, I thought it would be easy, considering I'm now the main character and all that jazz. But oh how wrong I was. I waited atop one of the Uchiha clan's buildings, preparing to use the abundance of shadows cast from the lamps in my favor. And I waited...

And waited…

And waited…

Until I realised something wrong. The shadows weren't flickering. Because you see, even though Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan could simulate even the smallest detail, that was when he had a focused mind. And I don't know 'bout you but fighting off a whole clan sort of distracts you.

Turns out Itachi knew I was there all along, hidden in the shadows like a true ninja, not some trigger-happy screaming kid who didn't know a thing about the world's truths *cough cough* Naruto *cough cough*. But despite my ability to blend into the shadows, something I had learnt from my elders in the Naru clan, Itachi's eyes were still a little stronger.

He had cast a genjutsu on me, tricking me that it was all good and that there was nothing suspicious. Because I had been too focused on his ninjutsu I had forgotten about his genjutsu, arguably the most dangerous thing in the whole Naruto universe since you couldn't detect one unless you had impeccable perception or immense willpower.

Once I had known that a genjutsu was cast, all it took was a shallow cut to jolt my numbed senses and I was out. What lay before my eyes was something that I could never unsee, something that would have made even the Mangekyo not a good enough compensation.

Before me were bodies strewn next to each other. Some still had blood gushing out from cuts. Some were burnt to a crisp. Some just appeared to be sleeping until further inspection. They all lay there in different position but there was one frightening common point. Their killer: Itachi Uchiha.

I looked around, attempting to locate the culprit of these horrifying murders, when I heard screams coming from the inner complex. I had found my target.

Running as fast as I could, I entered the window, kunais blazing, only to see Itachi about to kill of Fugaku Uchiha, his own father. He must have not expected me to break out of his genjutsu because he stood there stunned for a second.

Latching onto this precious second, I ran in, full well knowing that the only way I could beat Itachi was with Taijutsu. Before I could get close enough though, Itachi reacted and quickly shot a fireball my way.

Dodging the fireball, I continued my furious charge at him, finally getting within punching distance. From there, I whipped out my spare kunai and swung at his legs. Yeah, legs. I knew Itachi well enough to know that he would be able to dodge a swing at his throat and so aimed to trick him instead with a swing at his legs. Incapacitating him would have led to the same outcome as killing him with a knife in the throat, hopefully with less conflict on his side.

But a genius was a genius and he still managed to dodge my swing, though not before I got a decent sized cut across his shin. From there I continued my swings, left, right, up, down, stab, stab, up, right, etc. but I had lost the element of surprise and Itachi was able to easily dodge my attacks. I was fast, but not as fast as people like Rock Lee so I could still be dodged with some effort.

Looking back, I probably should have started off with paralysing him with the Naru shadow paralysis jutsu while I was still outside and then continued from there with a plan like every other Naru, but I wasn't a true Naru now was I, and also, hearing a heart-wrenching scream tended to make you toss aside rational thinking.

After a couple more attacks I began to realise that taijutsu was hopeless against Itachi and jumped back, regrouping and trying to figure out my next move. This was what Itachi was looking for. I could tell I had messed up from the shine in his eyes when I jumped back.

He immediately activated his sharingan, at which point I quickly shut my own eyes. This was only a temporary solution though, seeing as fighting without actually seeing what was going on, especially against one as skilled as Itachi, was never going work.

Before I could figure out a solution though, Itachi started launching fireballs randomly to cloud my other senses. There were a few kunai mixed in with the explosions that I only noticed in the last few seconds. Each kunai hit true, taking out some of my flesh, blood, and one time, a liver.

I couldn't let this go on, not if I wanted to get out of this alive, much less win. And so I tossed aside all my thoughts, focusing purely on determining Itachi's location. After sifting through the explosions and identifying Itachi's movement, I quickly formulated a plan, all whilst taking a few more kunai to the chest.

It was a gamble, but it was the only way. As soon as Itachi stopped hitting me with kunai for a second, I knew he was reaching into wherever he kept his spare kunai and reloading. This was my only chance.

I rushed in the general direction from which most of the kunai were coming from and risked opening my eyes for a moment. As I had hoped, Itachi was shocked by me moving and had unintentionally lifted his attempted genjutsu for a second.

And a second was all I needed. As soon as I ascertained his position I launched my shadow at him, filled with the remaining chakra in me that wasn't being used to keep my body functioning. As soon as I felt a strange coolness wash over me, I knew that I had connected. From there I walked forwards and came face to face with Itachi.

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FIRST FIGHT SCENE!

Not sure about this. Any feedback would be helpful.

I will see you when I see you,

peace out!


	4. Chapter 4

Hey hey, guess who's back.

Yeah, new chapter. It's been a few days but I only just got around to writing since I was focused on other stuff.

Well, first bit of dialogue in the story.

Feedback is always appreciated, I don't own Naruto, and I hope you enjoy

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**Chapter 4: Fallen Legend**

"Why?" I asked… "Why Itachi?"

"Why what?" he replied.

"Why would you kill your own family?"

"Because they were a threat to the village."

That shocked me. It was just that simple. In my mind I had thought that maybe Itachi was forced or manipulated to do this, or maybe that he was a psychopath. But the truth was simply that his clan was a threat to the village and Itachi was bound to this village. I don't know if this was good or bad but it was what it was and I couldn't change him, not yet at least. Maybe, sometime in the future, I would be able to change him, but it wasn't that time.

"Well… leave then." I barely whispered that out, still puffed from the multiple injuries I had sustained. I was putting up quite a convincing front that showed I still had a bit left in me, but the honest truth was that I had burned out and was running on fumes. I needed him to leave. I couldn't kill him.

"What?" Itachi was stunned, I knew as much. He and I were essentially different people. He took the Will of Fire to the bones. All for the village, awfully communist if you ask me, but hey, it was working… sorta. Me on the other hand, I cared for life, valued it even. I would go the extra mile to ensure that people would stay alive. In my missions, I never killed unless I had to. I never left anyone behind, not even if I had to.

It had earned me the moniker of 'lifeline' and to be honest, I wasn't mad at it.

"Well, Itachi, I know why you did it. Yeah, I can see the shock on your face, you don't need to hide it. I knew. I always knew. Remember, you treated me like a brother, why would you think I wasn't the same. I know how you act, and these days you have been acting weird. You are uphold our village's values to your very core and I can respect that, but it doesn't mean I have to agree. Now go, leave Konoha and let today be known as the day that a legend has fallen."

With that, I undid my shadow paralysis jutsu and let Itachi free.

Without so much as a turn back, he shunshined away.

And that was the last time I saw him in a long long time.

xXx

**4 Years Later**

"Hokage-sama, you called?"

I was in the Hokage's office, looking directly at the man who could control my fate. I knew that I had underperformed as ANBU captain ever since I let Itachi go. That night had left me different in more ways than one.

_*Flashback*_

First off, I was ANBU captain codename Spider for my heavy focus on ninja wire and shadow paralysis. After my fight I had walked around the complex hoping to find someone still alive. And find someone I did.

Who I found I will never know for his face and entire body was burnt beyond recognition. But his eyes… the identification of any Uchiha, were still glowing bright, with a Mangekyo Sharingan. I guess he must have been high-ranked and after witnessing the murder of most of his clan would definitely stimulate the Mangekyo.

When I found him, I was full of hope. I thought that I could finally change something. I could finally save someone. I had felt powerless during the Kyuubi attack, too young and inexperienced to do anything except sit back and watch.

And despite technically beating Itachi, I still felt weak for letting him kill all of his own family without being able to stop him.

That's why this man would have been different. Would have…

He was going to die, no two ways about it. I think the only thing that was keeping him alive was willpower. And once he saw me rush over, I saw a smile on his face.

"Ha, so that fighting *cough cough* must have *cough* been you." I was going to try and stop him from speaking on but he waved me down. Not willing to let down a dying man, I shut up.

"Did you save anyone?" he asked.

With tears now in my eyes, I said "none apart from Sasuke"

His voice, coarse and rough and yet somehow calming, began speaking again. "Ha, it's fine. At least you got one of us. The Uchiha line will not end here. Thank you, Spider."

Well, I guess that meant he was ANBU. It didn't matter though because all I cared about at that point was getting him to a hospital. Once again though, he stopped me.

"Boy, put me down. There is no way I can make it. But I can still live one, or at least my eyes can. If you could do this old dying man a favour, take my eyes. I want to see you take down my killer with my own eyes, even if they aren't in my own body. Take is as my thanks for saving young Sasuke."

After he finished, all I could do was croak out a yes. I mean, I couldn't let this man down, not when he had suffered so much.

"Boy, promise me you will use these eyes to stop something like this from happening ever again. Please."

"I promise."

"Then hurry, I can't last for much longer…"

And with that, I plucked out my own eye without a hint of hesitation for I knew that whatever pain I was suffering was far far smaller than that of the brave man before me. After my own right eye came out, I substituted it with his. Following that, I did the same with my left eye. It would take a while for me to adjust so I closed my eyes instead. Problems such as that could wait. What was important was the man before me.

"Sir… I will not let you down. But before you go, please let me know your name."

"Ha… my own name is not important. What is important is that I am a Uchiha. Oh, and do this old man a favor. Take on the name Uchiha would you. Not as your last name, but as your middle name. Please… take it as this old man's dying wish."

I couldn't say no to that, I just couldn't.

And so my name became Shikaichi Uchiha Nara.

_*Flashback End*_

"Spider, do you know why I called you here?"

"Yes Hokage, I will quit from ANBU. Here is my mask."

"Hahaha, no wonder they call you a spider. Your webs somehow extended even to the closest of my associates. Yes, I want you to leave the ANBU. You are not fit for it… It's not your style. What is your style though, is training the next generation."

At that I laughed. "Hokage-sama, no offense, but I am the next generation."

He replied jovially, "Yes, I know. But you are so much more. Young Sasuke, the boy you saved from his own brother is graduating. I wanted you to be his mentor, seeing as you saved his life and all that."

"Yes Hokage-sama, but he is also in a team with the kyuubi, and I am no master when it comes to dealing with monsters. I'm afraid I won't be able to control myself. A part of me will always question that little orange kid's actions. Nd also, hasn't Kakashi displayed an interest in that team. Let him take it."

"Ok then. Well, in that case, you're gonna have to give me an alternative. You're too good a ninja to let go to waste. I will not let another legend fall. Though I am surprised you paid attention to the graduating students this year" His tone was firm and there was nothing I could do.

Well, I guess I knew the future and there were things that I could change. I couldn't save the Uchiha family but I sure as hell could try and save those that would have died in canon. And little Shikamaru was also graduating this year, wasn't he?

"Well, I have been paying a little attention to this year, seeing as my little brother is one of them. Well, I guess I could take his team, it would take my mind off things. Hokage-sama, I will take Team 10."

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Thx for reading,

I'll see you next time!


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